Hello, Ex! I Finally Found My Worth! - Chapter 183

Chapter 183: Do The Same For Him
Hearing that, Derek cursed under his breath, and stepped back slightly. His mind reeled as he tried to understand what was going on.

Who the hell had turned against them? How had Sherlock survived? Where was he? How had they known it was him? Who leaked this information?

Everything had been under control or so he had thought until now.

Chloe was still struggling to form words when the officers grabbed her wrists and swiftly pulled them behind her back. The cold, unforgiving metal of the handcuffs snapped shut and her mind skipped a beat.

“No—wait!” she shrieked, struggling against them. “You’re making a mistake! I didn’t—”

Her protests were cut off as Derek lunged forward, thinking of escaping so he could figure things out and solve this issue once and for all.

But before he could do anything, three more officers stepped in from outside, guns at their sides, blocking his path.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” one of them warned.

Derek’s jaw clenched as he looked at them. He wanted to fight. He wanted to punch his way out of this mess but he wasn’t stupid.

He couldn’t do that and afford to put Chloe or himself in harm’s way. And he knew doing that would jeopardize any plans of lying their way out of this mess.

So, instead of escaping or doing anything stupid, he shot Chloe a sharp look, his mind racing for a way out of this.

There had to be a way out. He thought when he saw how Chloe was shaking now.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. They were supposed to be celebrating. Not getting dragged away like criminals. How had they gotten information? What could’ve prompted all this? Chloe thought as she swallowed hard.

“I will sue every single one of you!” she screamed as the officers pulled her toward the door. “I’ll ruin you! Do you hear me? This is a mistake! A setup!”

Derek, now also in cuffs, exhaled sharply, his mind spinning.

As they were forced outside, the flashing red and blue lights of multiple police cars added lightening to the street.

Neighbors around the estate peeked out from their windows, watching, whispering and judging as they all wondered what was going on.

Derek’s fingers curled into fists. He wanted to turn around, to scream at them all. But the officers shoved him forward.

Chloe was still thrashing, cursing, threatening but there was nothing more she could do. She wanted to do something, anything to get these police men to let her be but she couldn’t. For the first time in her life she was feeling powerless.

As the car doors slammed shut behind them, she realized she had lost and it was a blow she never would’ve anticipated.

The police van’s interior was cold and dimly lit, the light from the outside flickering through the barred windows. The air inside was thick with tension, the weight of their predicament pressing down on Chloe and Derek like a suffocating force.

Chloe sat rigidly, her hands still cuffed in front of her, her jaw clenched so tightly it hurt. Her mind was spinning, replaying everything that had led to this moment.

How?

How had this happened?

One moment, she had been celebrating, basking in the sweet taste of victory. The next, she was being dragged away in handcuffs like some common criminal.

Her pulse pounded furiously as she tried to make sense of it all. Where had they gone wrong? Was it Matthew?

Four days ago, he had come to her office, claiming he was sympathizing with her while also trying to find faults with whatever she was doing.

At the time, she had thought about it but Derek had said it was nothing and that she had been just paranoid.

She swallowed hard, her fingers tightening into fists. Why had she even listened to him? Had she known, she would’ve gone ahead to secretly handle Matthew on her own.

She glanced at Derek and she couldn’t help the surge of hatred that passed through her. He was the reason they were in this mess. If only he had listened to her…. she thought and narrowed her eyes.

Could it really be Matthew? Or was it her visit to Hunter’s house? She had been careful, calculated. But maybe… just maybe, she had made a mistake somewhere, left something behind that had tipped them off.

Who was that lady she had seen when she was leaving Hunter’s house? Could she had alerted the police?

No.

She shook her head slightly. That couldn’t be it. The lady could be visiting someone else or would’ve thought she was visiting someone else too. Or did the lady know her identity?

Then her mind drifted to her father’s body.

The forensics report. The fingerprints and her throat went dry. What was she going to say was the reason her fingerprints was on her late father’s body?

Her hands were trembling now as her mind raised. She had been so careful. So meticulous.

And yet… here she was. She had never thought they would trace or do a forensic report on the body when they was already a suspect and a lot of other evidences to convict the suspect. What was she going to do now?

A sharp inhale rattled through her as she forced herself to focus. It doesn’t matter now.

She needed a plan. Her lawyer. Yes. That was her way out.

All she just had to do was come up with a story— something solid enough to create reasonable doubt. But what could it be?

Her eyes flickered toward Derek.

His head was bowed slightly, his jaw set in a deep frown, his fingers tapping against his knee in thought.

Derek. A slow, wicked thought began to form in her mind.

Wouldn’t it be easier if… he took the fall? At least the police had said he had planned Mr Sherlock’s murder. They had only arrested her on the basis that her fingerprint was all over her father’s body so she could just say she had been there and had rushed out in panic at seeing her father that way that was why…. That didn’t make sense.

Maybe she could say she had gone to visit her father and had left him in good condition so she didn’t know what happened after she left.

That was it. She’d say Derek had done every other thing to spite Hunter.

She turned her gaze to Derek and then turned it away, biting her lip. He loved her and she knew that.

But true love meant sacrifices, right? If he truly loved her, he would understand.

He would take the blame so she could walk away free. After all, hadn’t she done enough for him?

She had given him everything—her time, her trust, her body. Now, it was his turn to repay her and show her that truly, he loved her.

Her heart steadied slightly at the thought.

Yes. That was her escape.

She just had to make him believe that this was what love was supposed to be.

She exhaled slowly, her panic dimming just slightly.

Derek, on the other hand, was locked in his own storm of thoughts.

His fingers tapped against his knee—a habit he had whenever he was deep in thought, trying to piece together a puzzle that didn’t make sense.

Something had gone wrong, not just wrong but terribly wrong and he needed to know what.

His frown deepened as he thought back to the last few days.

Everything had been under control. Then suddenly—this.

The police had come at them with evidence that they should never have had. His jaw clenched. This wasn’t a coincidence. Someone had set them up.

And then, a memory flashed in his mind—

Matthew. One of the boys had called to tell him he saw Matthew going into Mr. Sherlock’s house just before the news of Sherlock’s death.

Derek’s eyes narrowed. Although he had asked his boy to find out why, he hadn’t bothered to find out from his boy since the news of Sherlock’s death had been announced shortly after.

The police had said attempted murder so that had to mean Sherlock was alive. So, why had Mr. Sherlock’s wife confirmed his death when he was clearly still alive?

Was she in on it too?

His stomach twisted. If Matthew had planned this from the beginning, then that meant—

They had never been in control.

Derek’s fingers curled into fists as he forced himself to breathe. They had been played.

The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. Matthew had somehow known, and instead of attacking head-on, he had set a trap.

And like fools, they had walked right into it. His mind spun, calculating his next move.

There had to be a way out. There was always a way out. He needed to get to his lawyer. He needed to see what the police actually had on them and find a way to discredit it.

But above all, he needed to figure out if Chloe had made a mistake so he could know what to do.

His gaze shifted toward her, studying her from the corner of his eye. She was quiet now, staring at her lap, lost in her own thoughts.

Derek had always been good at reading her, and right now, he could tell—she was planning something.

The only question was—what?

His lips pressed into a thin line. Could he still trust her? His loyalty to her had never wavered.

But now, with everything crumbling around them, he couldn’t ignore the nagging thought in the back of his mind which was: Would she do the same for him?